Posted on 01/06/2016 8:31:52 AM PST by SeekAndFind
By this time, Chris Matthews must be panicked. When he asked DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to explain the difference between Democrats and socialists, the MSNBC host expressed considerable angst that the party’s leading officer couldn’t do so. "I used to think there was a big difference," Matthews lamented at the time.
Fast forward five months. Matthews posed the question to the party’s leading candidate for its presidential nomination, and … Hillary Clinton couldn’t explain it either. Who else can Matthews ask? Joe Manchin, please pick up the red courtesy phone:
Newsbusters has the transcript, and one can sense Matthews’ frustration at the end:
MATTHEWS: OK, last question, we’re running out of time. I want to try to help you for this audience tonight, our audience, locate yourself politically in this country. Now, we have Trump out there and we have Bernie out here. Now, Bernie calls himself a socialist. Nobody uses a derogatory term anymore. He loves to have that label. He’s never ran as a Democrat, he runs against Democrats up there in Vermont. You’re a Democrat. I would say you’re a pretty typical Democrat, in the traditional Democratic Party. And Humphry and the rest of them. Scoop [Jackson], not even Scoop, I'd say Rondale, you're somewhere in there. What’s the difference between a socialist and a Democrat. Is that a question you want to answer or you'd rather not, politically.
CLINTON: Well, you'd have to –
MATTHEWS: Well, see, I’m asking you. You’re a Democrat, he’s a socialist. Would you like somebody to call you a socialist? I wouldn't like somebody calling me a socialist.
CLINTON: But I’m not one. I mean, I'm not one.
MATTHEWS: What’s the difference between a socialist and a Democrat. That's the question.
CLINTON: I can tell you what I am. I am a Progressive Democrat.
MATTHEWS: How is that deferent than a socialist?
CLINTON: I’m a Progressive Democrat who likes to get things done and who believes that we are better off in this country when we’re trying to solve problems together. Getting people to work together. There will always be strong feelings and I respect that, from, you know, the far right, the far left, libertarians, whoever it might be. We need to get people working together. We’ve got to get the economy fixed, we've got to get all of our problems, you know, really tackled and that’s what I want to do.
MATTHEWS: I think the difference is, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz wouldn't answer the question either when I asked her. Because I know politically you have to keep together the center-left and the left has to work together. I know all of that.
To the extent that Hillary answered this at all, the response appears to be that Democrats are socialists who sometimes and temporarily compromise to add accomplishments to the resumé. That argument, as incoherently made as it is, seems to annoy Matthews, who abruptly changes the subject.
Matthews still hasn’t gotten an answer to his question: what’s the difference between a Democrat and a socialist? The actual answer is there isn’t a difference any more, but no one wants to admit it. I’d be surprised if Matthews ever asks this question again in public, or at least if he asks it before the general election in November.
Democrats are socialists who don’t like to be called ‘socialist’. That is the only difference.
Not her fault, there IS no difference any longer.
There is no difference anymore, possibly there never was, a conservative democrat is a liar and just trying to stay in office for the big killer vote even if it means he will be kicked out of office and I believe the same is true now of the GOP-E Republicans. What is it we have now 18-20 reliable Conservative Republican Senators and 48-55 Republican Congressmen? None of either from Mississippi.
I know what he means. There used to be a big difference. Now the two words mean the same thing, just with different spellings.
If you go by the precise definition of a socialist....it means you favor business operations are actually owned and controlled by the government. It’s not the intention of Democrats to own a business because then you’d be faulted for running a crappy business. So their flavor is to manipulate the business into doing X, Y and Z....if the business fails, then you blame them, and not you for creating rules which they had to follow to be accepted in the capitalist world.
Naturally, Hillary can’t explain that part of the story, so it’s left to your imagination.
Even in Europe, it’s a blend of blend of socialism and democracy that most countries practice....so that no one gets blamed for business failures or downsizing when it occurs (because of gov’t regulation or taxation).
Matthews Dumbfounds DNC Chair: 'Tell Me the Difference Between You and a Socialist'
“Democrats are socialists who don’t like to be called ‘socialist’. That is the only difference.”
Bingo!
The one thing that shot out at me in this interview
“Is that a question you want to answer or you’d rather not, politically.”
That is something you will NEVER hear him say to a Republican candidate!!!!
There is no substantial difference discernible.
The only difference is in varying degrees of lip service being paid to the democratic process. Socialists pay none whatsoever, whereas Democrats profess to observe it (while violating it to advance their agenda every chance they get).
The Democrats have two people contending for the nomination - the wild-eyed socialist, and the more moderate Bernie Sanders.
Your definition is that democrats are fascists. they leave some busnesses private and run them via regulation and if they fail its businesses’ fault, and they may need to be taken over. Fascists are just socialists using a veneer of privatism to shield themselves from negative consequences.
Jeez, I hate to be in agreement with Hillary! on anything, but I have a hard time telling the difference, myself.
“So their flavor is to manipulate the business into doing X, Y and Z.”
That is the classical definition of a fascist.
Because of media sycophants such as yourself, the Democrats no longer need to think about answering the question of the differences between a Socialist and a Democrat. They just reply we are all Progressives now.
PS. Don't forget to attend this month's Useful Idiot's meeting!
The answer is simple...there isn’t a difference. But she will never admit to that.
The only differences between Bernie and Hillary are that he is willing to admit it, and wants to make it happen much more quickly.
Otherwise they are the same.
I think the big question for voters this year is not the difference between Democrats and Socialist (none) but the difference between Democrats and Republicans. Not much any more.
What’s the difference between most “conservative” Republicans in Congress and Democrats? Judging by their actions, not much.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.